Despite the jam-packed bicycle racks at the University of Winnipeg, the school’s participation in last year’s Campus Commuter Challenge was less than two per cent. Resource Conservation Manitoba challenges students of various Manitoba campuses to see which can register the most students for the challenge.

“Transportation, more so than most things, is one of the ways you can save money while making a difference,” said Stephanie Fulford, co-ordinator of the student transportation network at Resource Conservation Manitoba.

Students that register for the Campus Commuter Challenge are pledging to commute eco-friendly throughout the week of September 21 to 25, as well as entering themselves in several draws with prizes that include a full school year’s worth of free bus passes, a $400 gift certificate to Natural Cycle, along with gift certificates for Canadian Tire and Canadian Footwear.

University of Winnipeg’s environmental awareness group, Ecological People in Action (EcoPIA), will be letting students know about the challenge by setting up an information table on campus around the time of the event along with handing out advertisements for the challenge.

“I was looking at the U of W website and at least 10 per cent of people are biking, so we should at least get all the people already biking and then try to get more people,” said Seren Gagne, member of EcoPIA and co-organizer of the U of W’s participation in the Commuter Challenge.

For those who aren’t cycling already, it’s an advisable alternative, said Fulford.

“Cycling is a one-time investment of however much you can afford. You can pick up bikes for cheap and fix them up for cheap or you can buy a new bike for a couple hundred dollars.”

Cycling, of course, isn’t the only eco-friendly mode of transportation. Many university students use the transit system to get around. If you’re already doing that, don’t let it dissuade you from registering for the challenge.

“If you are taking the bus anyway, then for sure sign on,” said Fulford. “It’s also about rewarding people who are doing good things already.”

Fulford said universities basically compete for bragging rights in two categories: the greatest overall number of students registered and the highest percentage of students registered for the challenge. Last year, Red River College’s Princess Campus won the “greatest overall” category.

James Cooke, vice-president of the Princess Street campus, won’t be pulling any punches this year either.

“So far, I’ve just set up the Facebook group to get initial awareness, and then after that it’s going to be me and two other students during the week trying to get people to sign up,” said Cooke. “Not only are you saving money, you’re saving the earth while you’re doing it.”

For more information on the commuter challenge, including eco-friendly transportation alternatives, see Samuel’s blog at http://uniter.ca/blog.

Published in Volume 64, Number 4 of The Uniter (September 24, 2009)